1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to maintaining privacy protections in a mobile networking environment.
2. Background of the Related Art
Within a mobile environment, a mobile device user typically is identified based on the device that he or she uses to access a mobile operator's network. With users demanding the ability to travel anywhere and still have mobile connectivity, mobile network operators have arranged to support “roaming” so that users have access to their home operator's services even if that operator does not provide any services in a particular coverage area. This is accomplished by allowing the user's mobile device to access the “foreign” network to which the device has roamed.
Typically, a network operator identifies the mobile device user by adding a tag of information, such as the device telephone number (MSISDN) or similar identifier bound to the device/user, to the user's request for service. Thus, when the mobile device roams into the foreign network and requests service, the device typically passes its MSISDN or IMSI to the local service operator, who then can provide the requested service—albeit with knowledge of the user's identity (or, at the very least, knowledge of the user's mobile device identity). While identifying the user's home network operator, such identifiers also are bound to the user's mobile device and, thus, to the user.
Once connected to the foreign network and authenticated, the user can use his or her device to obtain a service. Using a mini browser, for example, the user can access a web site and obtain a piece of content. Because the mobile device request includes the device identifier, the third party content provider in theory has access to the user's permanent identifier (namely, the MSISDN or IMSI). As privacy and competitive concerns become more prevalent, network operators are no longer able to put these identifiers in the clear in the user's request. Indeed, some privacy advocates in Europe have indicated that inclusion of an MSISDN in a mobile service request implicates privacy laws, and there have even been suggestions that such identifiers be removed from the network layer entirely. These issues are leading many network operators to consider alternatives, for example, such as completely removing the identifier from the user's request. While such a solution avoids privacy complications, it, in turn, introduces other complexities, as it is no longer possible for even the foreign network operator to identify either the user or the user's home operator.
The inclusion of device identifiers in mobile service requests also enables any entity having access to that data to build up a profile of the mobile device. Theoretically, this profile could be mapped to the mobile device user, which may be undesirable.